Besides the many disagreements between religions, the apparent agreement between religions is often unconvincing. Some agreements are meaningless because they are vague, culturally universal, and have nothing to do with religion (like "be nice to other people"). Others are not really shared between all religions. For example, a spiritual connection to the universe/God, even though it is a very vague "quality" for a religion to have, is not even universal. Many variants of animism don't even have any particular overarching concept to connect to in the first place, but rather are more interested in limited, "everyday" sorts of god.

Besides the many disagreements between religions, the apparent agreement between religions is often unconvincing. Some agreements are meaningless because they are vague, culturally universal, and have nothing to do with religion (like "be nice to other people"). Others are not really shared between all religions. For example, a spiritual connection to the universe/God, even though it is a very vague "quality" for a religion to have, is not even universal. Many variants of animism don't even have any particular overarching concept to connect to in the first place, but rather are more interested in limited, "everyday" sorts of god.

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[[Catgory:Apologetics]]

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[[Category:Apologetics]]

Revision as of 19:08, 23 February 2011

"All religions share a single message" is a common liberal response to the problem of multiple conflicting religions. The people who push this line are generally trying to encourage religious tolerance by marginalizing differences between religions and at the same time trying to promote communal faith. It would be startling if every religion ever invented had come up with the same principles of faith, wouldn't it? It might even get a few atheists thinking differently about this "revelation" thing.

However, this statement is a flat-out lie. Religions have disagreed about:

Whether there are any gods

How many gods there are

Whether these gods are human-like (physically, mentally, emotionally)

What these gods desire from human beings (if anything)

Most other qualities of a God or gods

Whether there is an afterlife, and what it's like

Whether reincarnation happens, and how it works

The importance of sacrifices

The importance of sin

The importance of connecting or unifying oneself with a "higher power"

The existence of witches, magic, or miracles

When (if ever) murder is justified

When (if ever) other types of violence are justified

Whether or not slavery is morally acceptable

Whether or not other religions are morally acceptable

When (if ever) religious/cultural outsiders should be treated equally to believers

Whether or not polygamy is morally acceptable

Every facet of the treatment of women

The treatment of gay and lesbian people

The treatment of transsexual and intersex people (and whether or not they have magical powers)

Whether or not drug use is sinful

Whether or not drug use is an integral part of worship

Whether or not sex is inherently sinful

Whether or not sex is an integral part of worship (and when)

How trustworthy prophets are

The importance of faith

The value of meditation (and what kind)

The value of prayer (and what kind)

Whether thoughts alone can be sinful

Whether blasphemy is sinful

Whether or not disease is sinful (one form of ritual uncleanness)

Besides the many disagreements between religions, the apparent agreement between religions is often unconvincing. Some agreements are meaningless because they are vague, culturally universal, and have nothing to do with religion (like "be nice to other people"). Others are not really shared between all religions. For example, a spiritual connection to the universe/God, even though it is a very vague "quality" for a religion to have, is not even universal. Many variants of animism don't even have any particular overarching concept to connect to in the first place, but rather are more interested in limited, "everyday" sorts of god.